The Other Trainer
by Writer's Block
Summary: There were four trainers from Pallet Town. Ash Ketchem, Gary Oak...but who were the other two?
1. Default Chapter Title

**The Other Trainer**

****

****You've heard of Ash Ketchum. You've heard of Gary Oak. These boys are famous for becoming the two Pokémon trainers from Pallet town to make it to the Pokémon League, with Ash becoming the Pokèmon Master while Gary was defeated by Lance, the dragon trainer. These two trainers became the pride of Pallet town. Prof. Oak always brags, "Yep. I knew that Ash was going to be the Master." 

You probably don't even remember me or the other trainer do you? Ash was late to get his first pokémon, so he got his Pikachu, which was the only one left. Gary was first to get his starter pokémon, so he got a Charmander. But don't you remember? There were two other starter pokémon. That means there were two other trainers. Yeah, you remember now. Two other trainers that you heard of once, but were never spoke of again. Well guess who I am. That's right. I'm the second trainer.

My name is Stephen. Never heard of me? I'm not surprised. Not many people hear about orphans until they end up on the news for stealing, or the poor kid is found dead in a ditch. Well, that's me. Stephen the orphan. Since you don't know anything about me, why don't I tell you? You might even find out why nobody ever hears about me or the other trainer that was with us when we got our first pokémon.

Chapter One

"SQUAAACK!! SQUAAACK!! SQUAAACK!!"

A Dodrio, the town alarm clock, was squawking it's heads off on top of city hall. I awoke with a start in the town pokémon center. I was glad they had built this place. I was tired of sleeping in parks and in alleyways. With this new Pokémon Center, I was able to spend every night in their free hotel in a nice, warm bed. And a shower! You don't know how good a hot shower feels after you've been sleeping in the muddy city park for the past two weeks. 

I sat up, stretched my sore back, grabbed some new, clean clothes I had bought the day before and headed for the bathroom. Hey, I may be an orphan, but I'm not poor. I was able to get some part time work the Pokémon Center as an assistant to the Chansey nurses. You know, handing them things and carrying in sick or hurt pokémon that wouldn't fit on the stretchers. That's why my back was so sore. I almost broke my spine carrying in a 400 lb. Cloyster.

I hopped out of the shower and quickly dressed. I grabbed the necklace that my parents had given to me and clasped it around my neck. It was solid steel links and had a medallion shaped like the legendary bird Zapdos on the end. Today was an important day for me. I know what you're thinking. "Today, he turns ten years old and is going to get his pokémon license." Yeah right. I turned fifteen last month and I've had a pokémon license since I was eleven. Today, I was getting a pokémon so I could actually start training. Not that I wouldn't have my troubles even getting to Prof. Oak's lab...

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! 

"Come on you stupid door! Open!" I yelled as I banged on the door to my room. I was dressed and had packed up my few belongings in a backpack someone had left in the closet and was trying to leave, but my door was stuck.

WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!

I continued to slam on the door. I looked at the clock on the wall. It read 7:45 a.m.

"No! I'm late!" I gasped. Trainers had started to arrive at the lab ten minuets ago!

Suddenly, my door swung open and I almost whacked a Chansey over the head. She handed me a clipboard.

"Sorry." It read. "A heating break caused warping in the door jams on this floor."

"That's okay." I said hastily as I dashed down the hallway. I took the stairs by three at a time and ran up to Nurse Joy in the lobby. 

"Nurse Joy, can I borrow one of the Center's bikes for a while?" I asked quickly.

"Sure Stephen." She answered. "Take one for as long as you need."

Thank the Lord for that woman. She always was very generous. I ran out the sliding doors and grabbed a blue, ten speed bike from the bike rack on the side of the building. I hopped on and raced off towards Prof. Oak's lab, barely dodging a girl and her Tangela who were walking from the Breeding Center across the street. 

I arrived at the Pokémon Lab about five minuets later and dashed inside, gasping and panting. 

"Am I (gasp, gasp) too late?" I wheezed.

Prof. Oak stood by a pokéball stasis unit with three pokéballs in it. He looked at me and smiled.

"Why, no Stephen." He said. "You're actually ten minutes early."

"Huh?" I asked, confused. I looked at a clock on the wall. It read 7:30 a.m. That meant that the clock in my room was ten minuets fast!

"Does that mean I'm the first one here?" I asked hopefully. The first person to arrive always gets to pick first, thus getting one of the better pokémon. 

"Nope." Prof. Oak said. "My grandson Gary is already here."

"Dang." I said. I hated Gary! Most people I knew hated him. He was a self-centered jerk who thought everyone on the planet was there to serve him. Plus he had that stupid group of cheerleaders following him all the time. He had to be the most stuck up ten year old I've ever seen.

"Hi Prof. Oak!" a boy said as he came into the lab. I guess he was about eleven years old. He was about four and a half feet tall with light blonde hair and pale blue eyes. He had his pokémon license pinned to his shirt.

"Hello Kyle." Prof. Oak said as he opened the protective dome over the stasis unit. "It's a good thing you're here. You three get the first pick of the three pokémon I have in stasis right now.

"Three?" Kyle asked, looking at me. 

"Gary's here." I grumbled.

"That's right!" Gary said as he came out of a side room. "I, Gary Oak, was here before all of you dorks!"

"Please calm down Gary." Prof. Oak chided. "But you're right. Since you were here first, you get first pick."

Gary walked up to the unit and picked up a pokéball with a small flame on drawn on it.

"I, Gary Oak, will pick the Charmander. The pokémon that is far more superior to the other pokémon."

"Then I'll take Squirtle. Water types are stronger than your Charmander, Gary." I said as I gave Gary a dirty look and picked up a pokéball with a water drop drawn on it.

"I guess that leaves me with Bulbasaur." Kyle said as he picked up a pokéball with a leaf etched into it.

"Leaves, Bulbasaur. Hehee..." Prof. Oak chuckled. "I'm the only one that thinks that's funny, aren't I?"

We all nodded and Prof. Oak just shrugged. He gave us each a pokédex and some pokéballs. I thanked him and headed out to the main gate. Gary and Kyle walked a little bit ahead of me.

"I've got to go now kiddies, but you guys will definitely see me again." Gary said in a snotty tone.

"Kiddies?" I asked angrily. "Who are you calling kids? You're younger than either of us. Heck, I'm five years older than you!"

Gary was just about to talk back when we reached the front gate. A huge crowd had formed out front. Kyle was greeted by his family and friends while Gary was greeted by a mob of fans. There were happy faces and joyous voices. Kyle's mother gave him a kiss on the cheek while his father patted him on the back, beaming with pride for his son who was setting out on his own. I saw Gary shoot me a smug look. Watching wistfully, I sighed, climbed onto my bike, and rode away as a boy wearing pajamas dashed up to the lab and stumbled into Gary. 

Chapter Two

It had been two days since I had left Prof. Oak's lab and I was now deep within the Viridian Forest. Unfortunately, I had only captured an Oddish, which had been running around looking for cover from the storm last night. I could have sworn that I heard Spearows squawking somewhere, but I didn't see any. I was trying to vary the types of pokémon I captured to build a good team, but pokémon seemed to be scarce around the path. Squirtle and I were getting along very well together though.

"Okay Squirtle, Water gun!" I said as I pointed at a small sapling. 

Squirlte blasted the tree so hard, it began to uproot. But Squirlte couldn't get it totally uprooted.

"Great job Squirtle!" I said as I patted him on his hard shell.

"Squirtle!" he cried happily.

Suddenly, I heard a loud rustling behind me. I turned with my pokédex already drawn. I pointed it at the rustling bushes.

"Pidgey." It beeped. "This small, bird pokémon is a must for beginning trainers. It is calm and gentle, but easily scared."

"All right then." I said putting my pokédex back into my pocket. "Let's sneak up on it Squirtle."

Squirtle nodded and crawled into the bushes to the left and behind the shaking bush. Suddenly, a small bird was blasted out of the bush and into a tree trunk by a solid stream of water. It sat there, dazed as I lobbed a pokéball at it. The Pidgey barely put up a struggle and was captured in a few seconds.

"Yes!" I cried. Squirtle hopped out of the bushes and into my arms.

"Squirtle squirt!" Squirtle said as he did a little "V for victory" sign.

Squirtle beamed himself back into his pokéball and I headed off on my bike. After about an hour of riding, I found that the forest around me began to get denser and close in towards the path. Soon, it was so thick that I couldn't ride my bike any longer. I heaved the bike onto my shoulders and took off on foot. 

"Just my luck." I grumbled as a pushed past some branches. 

Eventually, I came to a small clearing. By this time, it was already dark out, so I decided to set camp. I found some dry branches and started a small fire with a lighter I kept in my pocket. I let out all my pokémon to eat a small dinner of canned chili and bread. Squirtle supplied the refreshments with a weaker version of his water gun attack. Afterwards, they went back into their pokéballs for the night. I laid on the ground by the smoldering fire and watched the stars. It was a warm night, so I didn't keep the fire up. The sky was crystal clear with stars twinkling like a Dragonair's eyes. The moon shone bright and strong through the canopy of trees as I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

"Mom! Dad! No!" I cried. I as watching my parents being dragged off into a helicopter by two men in black uniforms. Team Rocket had come to rob our house one dark night. There were two big, burly men wearing black Rocket uniforms, with dark masks covering their faces. My parents had awoken and seen them. 

"Get out of my house!" my father had yelled as he struggled with one of the Rockets. He grabbed the man's mask and tore it from his face. Only then had my father realized his mistake. When Rocket's wear masks to burglaries, it's so they cannot be identified. If someone sees what they look like, they cannot let that person get away, lest they be identified and arrested later on. My father and mother had gotten a good long look at the man's face. The next thing I knew, I was screaming through my bedroom window up to a helicopter that was flying my only family out of my life.

"No...no...NO!!" I screamed. Suddenly, I was back in the forest, sitting bolt upright as I awoke in terror from my nightmare. I had often had nightmares about my parent's kidnapping so many years ago. I was only seven when it had happened, but the memory was still as fresh in my mind as if it had happened only the night before. Rubbing the tears from my face, I quickly packed up and tramped through the forest, the events of my dream slowly fading from my mind. I came up to a small stream a few hours later a refilled my canteen as Squirtle splashed around merrily in the water. 

I started back on the trail refreshed and eager to get to the next city. Passing a nearby campsite, I heard over their radio that the Pewter city gym leader had been defeated by a trainer from Pallet town. I could only have been Gary. He had taken off in a red convertible the day we left Pallet Town, so he could've made it to Pewter city in a matter of hours. Knowing how Gary was, he'd probably be lounging around in some fancy hotel, bragging his head off about his victory.

I continued on through the forest and spotted a Metapod lying on the ground in a small field. Pulling out a pokéball, I let out Squirtle and pointed at the cocoon pokémon.

"This should be an easy catch." I said to Squirtle. "Metapod can't even move, so you can beat without breaking a sweat."

Squirtle nodded to me and got ready to attack the Metapod when a boy about ten years old stepped out from behind a tree. He was a little more than half my size and wore a samurai outfit. He had a long sword strapped to his waist.

"Are you a trainer from Pallet?" he asked me.

"Yeah, but I'm a little busy right now, so can you..." I replied.

Before I could finish what I was saying, the kid leapt over the Metapod and landed in front of me, his sword just inches from my face. Giving the boy a skeptical look, I took the edge of the blade in my hand and bent it away.

"You shouldn't attack someone with a fake sword you know." I said as I released the blade and it swung back and forth loosely.

"My weapon does not matter. My name is Samurai and I wish to battle you with pokémon, not with swords." 

"Fine, fine. Just let me catch that Metapod and I'll get right back to you."

The boy held out a pokéball, aiming it at the Metapod. A red beam lanced out and sucked in the pokémon. 

"You mean that was your Metapod?" I asked, disappointed that I couldn't capture it.

"Yes it is." The boy answered. "I left it out to attract trainers for battles. As you can guess, it worked quite well."

"Just send out a pokémon."

"Very well then. Go Metapod!"

The boy threw out his pokéball and the Metapod popped out. Rolling my eyes, I pointed to Metapod.

"Go Squirtle!" I said as Squirtle hopped in front of me.

"Hah! A simple Squirtle will not be able to defeat my all powerful Metapod." Samurai laughed. "Metapod, harden!"

The pokémon's shell began to shimmer a bright green color and became slick and hard.

"Oh please." I said. "Squirtle, Water Gun."

Squirtle took in a big breath and then blasted out a steady stream of water, weakening the Metapod.

"Metapod, Maximum Harden!"

"Tackle attack Squirtle."

Squirtle ran and leaped at the Metapod, pulling his head into his shell and ramming Metapod backwards into Samurai's arms.

"Only a slight inconvenience." Samurai said as he returned his Metapod. "Now then, Pinsir, assume battle stance!"

Samurai tossed out another pokéball and a beetle about half my size appeared. It had large, spiked claws on the top of it's head.

"A Pinsir huh?" I said as I pulled out my pokédex. 

"Pinsir." It beeped. "A bug type pokémon. This pokémon is able to crush steel with it's massive pincers. It is weak against Ghost, Flying, Fighting, and Fire type pokémon."

"All right then." I said as I returned my Squirtle and pulled out another pokéball. "Go Pidgey!"

Pidgey popped out of it's pokéball and took to flight, circling the Pinsir.

"Pinsir, Vice Grip attack." Samurai commanded.

The Pinsir leaped at Pidgey, it's claws open, waiting to crush it.

"Pidgey, Gust attack!" I cried.

Pidgey began to beat it's wings furiously and the Pinsir was forced to the ground from the wind.

"Now Pidgey, Whirlwind!" 

Pidgey flapped it's wings even faster and a small tornado rose up from the ground and sucked up the Pinsir, throwing it several feet away. Samurai quickly returned it before it hit the ground.

"Looks like you won." Samurai said, looking downtrodden.

"Guess I did. But I just got lucky." I said, scratching the back of my head. "Do you think you can tell me how to get to Pewter city?" 

"Of course. Just head due north along Route 4. But watch out for the Beedrill nest along the way."

"Thanks." I said as I got on my bike and rode off. 

I traveled about twelve miles before I passed by the Beedrill nest. I was able to capture a sleeping Beedrill, but woke up the rest and got chased for a mile. I was able to outrun them on my bike and get back on the main path. After another four hours or so, I finally reached Pewter City, just before nightfall. I was able to get into the Pokémon Center for the night and was very thankful for the hospitality shown to me by Nurse Joy and the Chanseys there. 

It turns out that most of the Chanseys in Pallet Town are related to the Chanseys in Pewter City, so the ones in Pewter had heard good things about me from their relatives. Nurse Joy had asked me to help out a little bit, as they were short on Chanseys at the time. I agreed and spent the next three hours setting a very angry Fearow's broken wing. I was able to get it calmed down a little bit by letting it talk to my pokémon while I was helping a Chansey set the bone, which had been shattered in four places by another trainer's Starmie. 

Later that night, my pokémon and I were overjoyed to find out that the Chansey cook in the cafeteria had made me and my pokémon a pizza with the sentence "Thanks for helping" spelled out in pepperoni. We all slept soundly that night with full stomachs and happy hearts. Especially me, since I was able to avoid having my usual nightmares. 

Tomorrow, I would have a busy day. Tomorrow, I would go to face the Pewter city gym leader.

Tune in next time for Chapters 3 and 4.


	2. Default Chapter Title

Chapter Three

It rained all night. I mean, it _rained_. Rain pelted the windows like bullets as they fell from the murky sky in thick sheets. Lightening streaked through the clouds and lit the sky up in dazzling flashes of white and orange, with thunder crashing with the sound and explosive force of a sonic boom. From miles away, the faint howl of wild Growlithes could be heard as they dashed for cover from the torrential downpour. However, when I awoke the next morning, none of this storm was to be seen. The sky was a clean, pale blue with a beautifully shining sun peeking over the mountain range in the east. Fluffy, cumulus clouds floated above the Center like huge canopies of white snow. Looking out my window, I saw a large, multicolored bird flying lazily overhead.

"What the heck is that?" I asked my pokédex, aiming it at the bird.

"No entry found." it beeped. "There are some pokémon yet to be identified."

I watched the mysterious bird fly into the distance and got ready for the day. I headed down to the cafeteria and was happy to find that pancakes had been made for breakfast. My pokémon and I ate our fill and headed out into the lobby. I looked at a large map of the city, trying to find where the Gym was when a Chansey wheeling a huge cart full of pokéballs tripped and sent the cart careening into a wall. The pokéballs fell from the cart and rolled across the floor. 

I quickly helped the Chansey gather up the pokéballs, wondering where they all came from.

"What's with all the pokémon coming in today?" I asked.

"They're all from Viridian City." Nurse Joy said as she helped get all of the pokéballs. "They were sent here because the Pokémon Center there was destroyed during a fight between some trainers and Team Rocket. These are the last pokémon to arrive from there."

"That's awful." I said as I watched the Chansey wheel the cart away.

I headed out of the pokémon center and rode off to the Gym. I arrived there in a few minuets, thanks to the directions from the Center's map. I walked inside and saw a guy about my age sitting Indian style on top of one of the many boulders that dotted the Gym.

"Do you know where the Gym Leader is?" I asked him.

"I'm the Gym Leader here." he said as he jumped down from the boulder.

"You're Brock?" I asked. 

"You think I'm not?" 

"Well, no. It's just that I thought all Gym Leaders were adults."

"Looks like you thought wrong. Are you here for a badge?"

"Of course." 

"Then let's go. One pokémon each."

Brock pulled out a pokéball and threw it into the center of the room.

"Go Geodude!" he cried as a little boulder with a face and arms came out of the pokéball.

"A rock type huh?" I said, looking at the pokémon. "Okay then, go Squirtle!"

I sent in my Squirtle and saw Brock grimace. He knew that Geodude wouldn't stand a chance against a water type pokémon.

"Geodude, tackle!" 

"Let's have a water gun Squirtle!"

Geodude launched itself at Squirtle, but was shot, rolling backwards by the force of the water. It crashed into the far wall and fell unconscious.

"That was fast." Brock said, returning his Geodude. "Here. Take this and leave."

Brock tossed me a Boulder Badge and walked out of the Gym towards the pokémon center. I had finally gotten my first badge! I pinned it inside of my shirt and rode happily away. After that, I spent the rest of the day looking around town, buying a few remedies for my pokémon and basically having a good time. I slept at the Pokémon Center that night and started of towards Cerulean City the next day. 

Okay, long story short, I arrived in Cerulean in a week or so and beat one of the three Gym Leaders there without a sweat. They were the most stuck up girls I ever met. They reminded me a lot of Gary, who they said had beaten them just a few hours prior to our battle. I guess Gary had been so sure of himself that he was taking his own sweet time getting to each of the cities. Walking around Cerulean City the next day , I saw a newspaper stand with the headline "Cerulean City Gym Leaders Defeated Three Tines In A Row" written on one of the papers. I guess that Kyle, the third trainer from Pallet, had gotten here yesterday. I bought the paper and was angered by the fact that the paper said that Gary Oak, and two other trainers defeated the Cerulean Sisters. 

"I don't believe it!" I cried as I read the article. "Two other trainers? We have names you know!"

"You were one of the other trainers?" the man running the newsstand asked me.

"Yes."

"You're right, they should've mentioned your's and the other one's names"

"I'm glad to hear that someone agrees with me."

"By the way, do you know Gary Oak? He's such a big star, and I'd love to meet him..."

Groaning, I handed the paper to a man who was digging around in his pockets for change to buy one and walked away. Gary this, Gary that. If those people knew what he was really like, I bet they wouldn't want to meet him so badly.

My next stop was Vermilion City, which I reached in a few days, vis transit bus. Now that was the way to travel. No pedaling, just sitting back and relaxing while watching telephone poles go whizzing by. Making a brief stopover at a truck stop/all night diner, I was able to capture a Koffing, which was hovering around a dumpster behind the diner. That made five pokémon captured. Soon, I would have to start having to send my pokémon to Prof. Oak back in Pallet Town. After arriving in Vermilion, I was able to get in some battles with some other trainers and my Pidgey evolved into Pidgeotto during a battle with a Sandshrew. I dropped by the Vermilion City Gym and defeated the huge Lt. Surge's Raichu using my Pidgeotto, Oddish, and Koffing. The battle finally ended when Raichu's thunder shock attack ignited some of Koffing's poisonous gasses, causing a backdraft and burning Raichu pretty badly. 

After receiving my third badge, I dropped by the pokémon center to get my pokémon healed. I stayed up in a room for the rest of the day, watching pokémon matches on the T.V.

I stayed in Vermilion for a few days and kept on training my pokémon. My Oddish evolved into Gloom on my third day there and my Beedrill learned Pin Missile. On my fourth day there, I was walking around the docks, looking at all of the huge cruise ships when two blonde girls came up to me and gave me a free ticket to go on a cruise on the St.. Anne cruise liner. They said that they had forgotten that they had dates with their boyfriends and needed to get rid of a ticket. Well, one of them said that. The other just stood their saying "Coooool!"

Anyway, I was given a free ticket for the St. Anne ocean liner. I checked my bike in at the pokémon center and headed back to the shipyard. I hurried down to the southern area of the docks to find a huge ship with the name St.. Anne painted on the hull in gold lettering. I strolled in and was amazed by what I saw.

Pokémon trainers! Everywhere. Everyone. They were all pokémon trainers! There were people at small stands selling pokémon merchandise. There were trainers showing off their pokémon. I walked around, trying to take in everything. There were so many people there!

I passed by lots of trainers, all of them showing there pokémon to other trainers. There were lots of common pokémon like Rattatas and Oddishes. But every once in awhile, I saw someone with a rare pokémon like Hitmonlee or Farfetch'd. I could hear many of them bragging about their pokémon.

"Look at the flame on my Charmander's tail!" a boy holding a Charmander bragged. "There's orange mixed in with red. Pretty cool huh?"

I decided to join in and I brought out my Pidgeotto, showing off it's impressive wingspan and long, elegant feathers. I walked around with Pidgeotto perched on my arm like a falconer when I saw a man with a Raticate battling some kid.

"Raticate! Finish it with Hyper Fang attack!" the man commanded.

"Butterfree, stun spore now!" The boy cried as his Butterfree covered the Raticate in paralyzing powder. The boy was just about to finish it off with whirlwind when the Raticate's trainer picked it up and walked away. 

"What a jerk." I thought to myself as I walked by. "He just didn't want to lose, so he took his Raticate away before the battle was over."

I walked around for a little while and was greeted by a wonderful smell when I passed by the center of the main hall. Pushing past the crowd, I saw...food! Tables and tables full of some of the most delicious looking foods I'd ever saw. Turkey, chicken, beef, lamb, pork, fish, pasta, soups, just about everything you could think of was there. 

I dashed up to one of the tables and dug into a chicken leg like a hungry Growlithe. I hadn't eaten anything all day and I was starved. I received several looks from the people around me, some of them humorous, some of them disgusted by the fact that I had eaten the chicken leg in about five seconds. I let out the rest of my pokémon and we all ate our fill, even Pidgeotto, who usually ate like a bird. My Koffing had gulped down some turkey and was so sleepy that he could barely keep aloft. 

After we finished, I returned all of my pokémon except for Pidgeotto, who liked getting the attention from all the passerby. I found a small stand that engraved pokéballs. I didn't have enough money, so the man running it bartered with me. I gave him two of Pidgeotto's feathers, and he engraved my name on the bottom of all of my pokéballs. I walked around enjoying myself when all of a sudden, all of the exits and windows of the main hall were closed by steel bars and doors. People all around me tore off their street clothes to reveal black uniforms.

"What the?" I asked, confused.

The lights all went out and a spotlight focused two people standing on a table. One was a young woman around seventeen. She had long red hair that curled down to her waist. Standing next to her was a dejected looking man around the same age with short blue hair. They both wore white uniforms with big red "R"s on them. All of the people had large machines strapped to their backs.

"Prepare for trouble." the red headed woman said.

"And make it double." the young man said.

"To protect the world from devastation,"

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

A Meowth dropped down from the ceiling and landed between the two.

"Meowth, that's right!" it said as the lights came back on.

"Team Rocket will now take possession of your pokémon!" Jessie announced.

All of the Rockets turned on the machines strapped and there was a huge suction towards them! Why the heck are they using vacuums? Suddenly, pokéballs began to fly from the crowd and into the vacuums. I reached down to my belt to make sure all of mine were still there when the ball holding my Squirtle shot off of my belt and into a Rocket's vacuum.

"Squirtle!" I cried. I ran up to the Rocket and punched him hard in the gut. He clutched his stomach and fell to his knees as he tried to suck air.

"That was so therapeutic." I said as I ripped the machine off of his back and dumped out the pokéballs. I desperately searched through them and finally found one with my name on it. Thank goodness for that engraver. I reattached my pokéball and held out my arm to Pidgeotto, who was flying around in a panic. He quickly landed and I held him close to me so he couldn't be stolen.

Suddenly, I saw a flash of light to my right as a Pikachu blasted a Rocket who was trying to take his trainer's pokémon.

"If they're gonna try to rob our pokémon, we might as well make it a battle." he said, looking at the fallen Rocket.

"Yeah, we can't just surrender!" another person agreed.

"Let's fight back!" a boy wearing a Squirtle shirt said.

The crowd cheered and started throwing pokéballs. Pokémon appeared everywhere! Staryus, Geodudes, Weepinbells, Butterfrees! 

"Gloom, go!" I yelled as I chucked a pokéball. Gloom popped out, ready for battle. "Stun spore now!" I commanded as it blasted a large cloud of dust at a group of Rockets. They all ran from the cloud, only to be intercepted by a group of Butterfree doing the same attack.

"Gloom return! Go Beedrill!" I said as I switched one pokémon for another. Beedrill zoomed out of it's ball and began to fly around, shooting Pin Missiles at the Rockets. After a few successful shots, I returned it and threw up my arm, launching Pidgeotto into the air. It quickly joined a large group of Pidgeottos and did a group gust attack at the command of the boy with the Pikachu, launching several Rockets out of the ship. The boy then commanded several Pikachu to do a Thunderbolt attack at once, causing the last of the Rockets to be flung out of the ship.

The crowd cheered as the last of the Rockets went flying and the boy congratulated everyone on a job well done. I quickly returned my Pidgeotto, but not before giving it a big hug for helping out. Suddenly, the ship rocked to the left and I was thrown off my feet. A person helped me to my feet just as another wave hit. I dashed to a window and saw a huge storm all around us. Many passengers were surrounding the captain, asking him if they were going to be all right. Then I heard him say the four words that made me remember the Titanic.

"This ship is unsinkable!" he explained.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this." I moaned.

I looked back at the crowd and the captain wasn't there anymore. I looked around and saw him lowering himself off of the ship in a huge lifeboat that could have held dozens of people.

"I knew this was going to happen!" I cried as I raced to the lifeboats with several other trainers. I jumped over the railing and into a lifeboat just as it was beginning to lower. The lifeboats drifted away from the ship just as a huge wave hit it, causing it to capsize.

"Holy...." I gasped as the ship began to disappear beneath the waves.

"May I have your attention!" The captain yelled from a lifeboat. "Anyone who didn't leave the ship safely, please say aye....good. Well done. Everyone's safe then."

"You moron!" I shouted at him.

Chapter Four

After a few hours, a rescue ship picked everyone up and I headed out of Vermilion once I got finished kissing the ground. In the next few days, I had arrived in Lavender town and had captured a Butterfree and a Mankey on the way there. I arrived very late in the night so the first thing I did was stagger into the Pokémon Center and fall asleep in the waiting room. The next morning, I looked around the city and heard two boys talking about a haunted tower on the outskirts of the city. Figuring it might be a good spot to find some pokémon, I headed out that very day and was there in a matter of hours. 

The tower was very dark and sinister looking. Still, I mustered up my courage and walked into the creepy tower. The doors slammed shut behind me, making me jump about four feet off the ground. 

"Hellooo!" I called into the darkness. "Is anyone here?"

Suddenly, the room filled with a brilliant flash of light and a small purple pokémon with disembodied hands appeared in front of me.

"Wow! A Haunter!" I gasped as I whipped out my pokédex.

"Haunter." it beeped. "A ghost pokémon. There is no other information about this pokémon."

"Well that's helpful." I said sarcastically as I pocketed my pokédex. I pulled a pokéball off of my belt and threw it to the floor. "Butterfree, go!"

Butterfree flew out of it's ball and circled around the ghost.

"Haunt?" Haunter asked as it stared at Butterfree.

"Butterfree! Stun spore now!" I commanded.

Butterfree flapped it's wings furiously and long wisps of multicolored spores flew from it's wings and landed on the Haunter, which began to shake from paralysis.

"Now, do Psybeam!" I shouted. 

Butterfree's eyes lit up and it shot a large multicolored beam into Haunter, causing it to whirl around helplessly in the air.

"Haunter, you're mine!" I shouted as I hurled a pokéball at the weakened pokémon. 

The ball flew through the air and connected with Haunter. Wait, no! It didn't hit it. It went right through it!

"Well how am I supposed to catch it if the pokéball can't touch it?" I asked nobody.

Thinking fast, I picked up the all and walked up to the dizzy Haunter. I opened the ball and a red beam enveloped the Haunter, pulling it into the ball. It shook in my hand for a few seconds and then stopped moving.

"Yes!" I cried, holding the ball up above my head. "I caught Haunter!"

I tried to lower my arm, but it wouldn't go down. Looking up, I saw a Gastly holding onto the pokéball with vaporous hands. Looking down, I saw that I was standing on a Gengar about twenty feet above the floor. 

"Yaah!" I cried. "Put me down!"

The Gengar nodded and I found myself falling through the air, the Gastly and Gengar laughing as they let my new Haunter out of the pokéball. I was about to hit when Gengar flew down and caught me, setting me down on the floor. Gastly dropped the pokéball onto my head.

"Ow! Why you...." I said angrily as the three ghosts laughed at me. I threw out Butterfree's pokéball, but Haunter caught it and tossed it back to me before my pokémon could get out to attack. I picked my pokéball off the floor and aimed it at Haunter.

"Haunter, return!" I said as a red beam lanced out at Haunter. Before the beam hit it, Haunter pulled out a small mirror from somewhere behind it and deflected the beam away.

"But I caught you! You're my pokémon now!" I whined. Haunter just laughed and mimicked me throwing a pokéball. Gastly and Gengar both laughed and they all flew up through the ceiling.

"Oh no you don't." I said as I raced up some stairs. "I caught you fair and square."

I made my way up the tower, seeing flashes of the three ghosts from time to time. Finally, I reached the top of the tower where the three ghosts hovered. I pulled out a pokéball and was just about to throw it when Gastly flew up to me and rammed me in the stomach, knocking me out of an open window. I fell for about forty feet and landed softly on a bowl shaped surface. Looking over the rim, I saw that I landed in the launching area of a large catapult. Gengar and Haunter laughed as they pulled the firing mechanism, launching me through the air away from the tower. As I hurtled away, I saw the catapult turn into Gastly and all three of the ghosts waving at me and laughing their heads off. I landed about a mile away in a huge lake, terrorizing a school of Magikarp under the surface. I swam to shore and dragged myself away from the water, yelling at the top of my lungs in frustration and causing several Pidgeys to fly from their nests form the noise. 

"Those stupid ghosts!" I practically screamed. "I caught that Haunter! It's mine! It's not fair!!"

I calmed down after five minutes of ranting and decided to forget about the ghosts. They weren't worth the trouble. I set up camp and changed into some dry clothes. I stayed there for the night and started towards Fuchia City the next morning. 

I made it to Fuchia in a few days, not capturing any pokémon along the way, but I did find a leaf stone and evolved my Gloom into a Vileplume. Riding around the city, I couldn't find the Gym anywhere. I dropped by the pokémon center and was informed that the gym was in the Fuchia forest, just south of the Safari Zone. I biked along the southern route and eventually found an old Japanese mansion in the middle of the forest. However, the mansion was on the other side of a huge canyon.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I said as I wondered how to get across. I noticed a large tree a little ways to my left and sent out Vileplume. 

"Vileplume, use your cut attack on that tree." I said as I pointed to the tree.

Vileplume nodded and began to whirl around like a top. It moved closer to the tree and the flower on top of it's head blazed through the tree trunk like a buzz saw. Vileplume stopped spinning and dizzily made it's way back into it's pokéball. I tried to push the tree over, but it was to heavy for me, even though it was cut away from it's roots. I sent out Squirtle and had it perform it's water gun attack on the tree. Just as the tree started to lean, I ran up and shoulder rammed the tree, causing it to fall over and bridge the gap between the mansion and me. Rubbing my shoulder, I turned to recall Squirtle when he started to glow.

"Squirtle! You're evolving!" I cried as Squirtle began to get bigger. Long ears formed on it's head and it's tail split into several parts. The glowing stopped to reveal a newly evolved Wartortle.

"I'm so happy for you!" I said as I gave him a big hug. "All the effort from pushing that tree down must have given you the boost you needed to evolve!"

"War! Tor, war." Wartortle said happily. I beamed him back into his pokéball and rode my bike across the bridge towards the mansion.

I left my bike out front and walked into the building. Looking around, I saw a small Venonat at the end of a long hallway.

"Hey, a Venonat!" I said as I pulled out a pokéball. "That'd be a great addition to my team."

I lobbed the pokéball at the Venonat, but it just caught it and kicked back to me, hitting me in the head with it.

"Why you little...!" I grumbled as I ran at the Venonat. It just sat there with a wry look on it's face as I suddenly slammed into something.

"Yeeow!" I cried as I fell over. Looking up, I saw the sunlight glimmer off a glass wall in front of me.

"You're kidding right?" I asked as I stood up. I backed up and tried to shoulder ram the wall, but it was so solid that I ended up bouncing right off of it. I decided to try and find another way out, so I turned around to walk back to the front, but was stopped by another glass wall.

"Hey? What's the deal?" I asked as I pounded on the glass. Trying to think of a way out, I leaned against a wall and it suddenly swung away, causing me to fall into another room where a man dressed in a purple ninja outfit stood with the Venonat at his side.

"Uh, are you the Gym leader?" I asked the man, quickly standing up.

"Yes, I am Koga, the master trainer here." he replied.

"Good, then I challenge you to an official pokémon battle for a Soul Badge!"

"Fine then. Go Golbat!"

Koga tossed out a pokéball and a big purple bat zoomed out of it and fluttered above the center of the room.

"Golbat huh?" I said as I pulled out a pokéball. "Then I choose Koffing!"

I threw out my pokéball and Koffing emerged, ready for battle. Koga started off the match.

"Golbat, use your wing attack!"

"Koffing, give it the special sludge move I taught you!" 

Golbat flew at Koffing, ready to strike it with it's wings when Koffing began to whirl around, shooting sludge from all of the little craters on it's body. Sludge coated the Golbat's wings and it went crashing to the ground. Though it was grounded, it still had the will to fight.

"Now Koffing, finish it off with your Tackle!"

Koffing zoomed down and slammed Golbat through the floorboards, instantly knocking it out. Koga grimaced and sent in his Venonat.

"Okay Koffing, block it's vision with a smoke screen!"

Koffing shot out a dark cloud of gas into the room, making it nearly impossible to see. 

"Venonat, fight back with your stun spore!"

Venonat started to vibrate, shooting a cloud of spores into the gas. A few seconds later, Koffing fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"Oh-no! Koffing return. Go Pidgeotto!" I cried as I threw out another pokéball.

Pidgeotto burst from it's ball and began to dive at Venonat, who started to run around in circles, trying to avoid the bird.

"Venonat, use your Psybeam!"

"Pidgeotto, blast it with your mirror move!"

Venonat shot out a multicolored beam at Pidgeotto from it's eyes, but Pidgeotto dodged and blasted it with a beam of it's own, sending it careening into the far wall. Koga looked very downtrodden as we both returned our pokémon. He walked up to me and handed me a heart shaped badge. 

"You have earned this young man. Go in peace." He said as he walked out of the room.

I nodded and walked out of the mansion without walking into any invisible walls. I hopped on my bike, rode back across the bridge and back into Fuchia city. I stayed at the pokèmon center that night and planned on which Gym to go to next. 

Tune in next time for Chapters Five and Six.


	3. Default Chapter Title

Chapter Five

I spent the night arguing about which route I should take with myself.

"Okay, if I take route twenty seven, then I should be in Saffron in about eight days."

"But, I could also take route twenty four and stop by the Safari Zone on my way to Celadon city."

"You're talking to yourself you know."

"Shut up. I'm not talking to you."

"Huh? I thought you were."

"Man, I am so weird sometimes." I said, shaking my head.

I finally decided to go to the Safari Zone. I needed to "recruit" some new friends for my journey. I left early the next morning and arrived at the Safari Zone a few hours later. I went inside the main office and talked to the game warden about rules in the Safari Zone.

"You can only catch pokémon that are on this list." The game warden said as he handed me a small booklet. Inside it's pages were the names of several different types of pokémon and their pictures. Above their pictures, it said if I could capture them or not. Many pokémon, such as Kangaskhan or Lapras, were marked off in the "Almost Extinct" category, so I would not be allowed to capture those. I headed inside with a pouch full of Safari balls and my pokédex out.

"In the Safari Zone," my pokédex beeped, "trainers are not allowed to use their pokémon to battle other pokémon."

"What?" I asked my dex. "Then how the heck am I supposed to catch anything?"

"The special Safari balls you are equipped with enable you to capture some pokémon without weakening it first."

"Cool."

I took off, deeper into the Safari Zone. I emerged about four hours later with twelve new additions to my team. I sent them all to Prof. Oak before I called him over the video phone in the main office. He was overjoyed by the large amount I sent him.

"Excellent!" he said as he turned the camera to my new pokémon. "Just wonderful! You've caught so many at one time! Amazing!"

"Thanks Prof. Oak." I said, smiling. I opened my outer shirt to show him my four badges. "Check these out!"

"My, you have four badges! I admit, you don't have as many as Gary, but he never sent in this many pokémon at once."

"Did everyone get there safely?" 

"Oh yes. Let's see. Your Nidorino, Dodrio, Farfetch'd, Parasect, Venomoth, Pinsir, Psyduck, Ponyta, Tauros, Scyther, and Ditto are all here."

"What? I caught twelve pokémon! That's only eleven! Where's the last one?"

"Twelve? Well, I'm not sure. I only got...oh wait! Another one is arriving! Hang on."

Prof. Oak dashed out of view. He returned a second later holding my twelfth pokémon and practically jumping up and down.

"My, oh my! You caught a Dratini! You must let me study it!" He said, hugging Dratini tightly.

"Well, sure. But I don't think you can study it that well if it's dead from strangulation."

Prof. Oak looked a little confused, and then noticed that Dratini was starting to turn purple. He quickly released his grip and Dratini panted for breath as his face returned to it's normal shade of blue.

"Opps. Sorry. I guess I got a little excited. Thank you for letting me study it."

"You're welcome. May I please have Scyther? I need him to battle in Celadon City."

"Why of course. Just select the trade option in your pokédex and send me one of your other pokémon."

I opened my pokédex and sent my Koffing to Prof. Oak in exchange for my Scyther. I said good bye to Prof. Oak and headed back to the pokémon center. I stayed there the rest of the day, getting acquainted with Scyther. I left the next day towards Celadon. I arrived in a few days, capturing an Arbok on my way there. I was able to get to Celadon a lot faster thanks to my Scyther. He let me tie one end of a rope to it's legs and the other to my bike. With my pedaling and his flying, I made about thirty miles a day. I was going so fast, that the only reason that I caught Arbok was because I ran it over with my bike, knocking it unconscious.

I headed directly to the Gym. I walked right into the main hall and was greeted by a very odd smell.

"Holy...!" I said, covering my nose with my shirt collar. "It smells like a Muk died in here!"

"Oh, sorry about that." A young woman said as she walked up to me. "That was just Cassie's Gloom. You startled it when you came in."

"Wow. My Gloom never made a smell like that."

"You have a Gloom too?"

"Well, not anymore. It evolved into Vileplume."

"That's great!" The woman said. "Tell me, do you like perfume?"

"Well, I'm more into cologne, but I don't have anything against perfume."

"Great! So tell me. Why are you here? Have you come for the flower arranging session?"

"Uh, no. I came to challenge the Gym Leader. Do you know where she is?"

The girl smiled and pointed at herself.

"You're the gym leader?" I asked, slightly shocked.

"Yep. Why are you so surprised?"

"Well, it's just that you're so nice. All the other Gym leaders I beat acted so serious and kinda mean. Except in Cerulean City. That Gym leader was just stuck up."

"Yes well, most people are surprised by me. My name's Erika. What's yours?"

"Stephen. Nice to meet you Erika."

"Glad to meet you to. Should we go to the battling arena then?"

"Sure."

We both walked through a large door with a Victreebell carved into it. Behind the door was a large arena, filled with flowers and trees. On either side of the room were large risers. They were filled with several women and plant type pokémon.

"Do only women work in this gym?" I asked Erika.

"Yes. This gym is also a perfume factory." She replied.

"Cool."

Erika stood on one side of the room while I stood on the other. She pulled out a pokéball and threw it to the center of the ring.

"One pokémon each. Go Gloom!" She cried as her Gloom popped from it's pokéball.

"Go Syther!" I said, tossing out one of my pokéballs.

Gloom got a freaked look on it's face as Scyther appeared before it. It began to shake as it watched the light gleam off of Scyther's razor sharp blades.

"Don't be afraid Gloom! Go at it with your stench attack!" Erika said.

"Uh-oh! Not that smell again!" I cried, quickly covering my nose again.

Gloom sprayed a dark green mist into the air. It settled around Scyther and he began to get nauseous from the smell.

"Yikes! Hang in there Scyther! Blow the smell away with your Swords Dance, Mambo Style!"

"Mambo style?" Erika asked as Scyther began to dance around. 

Scyther jabbed it's blades to the left, then to the right. It extended it's arms out and leapt into the air.

"My, what a beautiful dance." Erika said, admiring Scyther's agile moves.

Scyther landed and began to spin. It spun so fast, it turned into a blur, sucking up all of the gas and whirling around like a top. It stopped spinning and finished it's dance with a pirouette and a back flip. The women in the audience applauded as Scyther bowed. Even Gloom started to clap.

"Now Scyther! Give Gloom your Tickle Tackle!"

"Huh?" everyone in the audience asked.

"Scy!" Scther said as it flew into the air. It pinned Gloom to the air, turned on it's back, and began to tickle Gloom by beating it's wings under Gloom's arms. Gloom began to laugh so hard that Erika had to return it, lest it pass out from the tickling.

"Good job Stephen." Erika congratulated as she handed me a Rainbow badge. "You beat me without actually hurting Gloom, and you did it with finesse."

"Thank you Erika. You have no idea how long it took me to teach Scyther that dance step." I said as Scyther nodded.

"Ther, scy." He agreed.

Scyther and I stayed at the Gym for a few hours more, teaching Gloom and several other of the trainer's pokémon some dance steps. Scyther also gave a Tengela a "haircut" when it got to close to his blades. Erika fixed Tangela's vines so they looked better and Scyther and I said goodnight. I headed back to the pokémon center and spent the night there, telling Nurse Joy all about what happened at the Gym over some coffee. She was glad to hear that I had such a fun time and was sad that I would be leaving the next day. I went back to my room and got a good night's rest. The next morning, I made sure to splash on a little bit of the cologne Erika had given me the day before.

I started out on the road to Saffron City, using Scyther again to help get a few extra miles in before I had to set camp. After about two hours, I found it was no longer necessary to use Scyther for speed, due to a battle and a new pokémon.

"Butterfree! Use your stun spore attack!" I cried.

"Cloyster, blast it with your Spike Cannon!" The girl cried.

I had been crossing the almost completed "Sunny town Bridge" by bike so I could get to Saffron when a bike gang stopped me. A girl challenged me to a battle, no time limit and however many pokémon we wanted to use. If I won, I got whatever pokémon she used. If she won, she got my bike. I thought it would be a breeze to beat her. Boy, was I ever wrong.

"Butterfree look out!" I cried as Cloyster slammed Butterfree with it's spikes. Butterfree's stun spores didn't do any damage since Cloyster's hard shell wasn't affected by the dust. Butterfree was down and out. I pulled out another pokéball and lobbed it in front of the Cloyster.

"Go Vileplume! Use your razor leaf attack!"

Vileplume's leaves just bounced off of Cloyster as the whole bike gang laughed at me. Cloyster knocked Vileplume out with one tackle.

"Hah! You'll never be able to beat my Cloyster!" the girl taunted. "It's my favorite and strongest pokémon!"

I couldn't believe I was losing so easily. I had to try a new angle. Suddenly, I had an idea. I tossed out another pokéball.

"Go Pidgeotto!"

"Hah! What a pathetic little bird." One of the gang members laughed.

"This will be quick!" The girl said. "Cloyster! Use your Spike Cannon!"

"Pidgeotto, Agility!" I cried.

Cloyster flew at Pidgeotto, ready to spear it with it's spikes. However, Pidgeotto was not there anymore. It blew past Cloyster at an amazing speed. It began to fly around him in small circles.

"Pidgeotto, use your Quick Attack!"

Pidgeotto began to fly faster and faster. A small tornado blew up and engulfed Cloyster. Still, the shell pokémon stood it's ground, not moving an inch. 

"Now Cloyster, Clamp it!"

The tornado suddenly stopped and the dust blew away to reveal Pidgeotto being held roughly inside of Cloyster's outer shell. 

"Pidgeotto, try and get away!" I cried as Pidgeotto struggled.

"Hah! It will never get away. Cloyster, finish it of with your Ice Beam!"

"Pidgeotto! No!" 

Cloyster's eyes began to glow bright blue as it charged up it's Ice Beam. Suddenly, Pidgeotto became enveloped in a bright, white light. It grew and grew till it was bigger than Cloyster. It quickly broke free of Cloyster's grip, soaring into the air as a brand new pokémon.

"Whoa! You evolved into Pidgeot!" I cried happily.

"Doesn't matter." The girl said smugly. "I'll still beat you easy. Cloyster, clamp it again!"

Cloyster flew up and grabbed onto Pidgeot's wings, pulling it down to the ground.

"Pidgeot! Break free with your Wing Attack!"

Pidgeot's shoulders suddenly arched up and it's wings broke from the Cloyster's shell, extending to their full, eighteen foot wingspan. A sickening crack was heard as Pidgeot's Wing attack shattered the hinge of Cloyster's shell. It lay prone, unable to protect it's soft inner body from attacks.

"Cloyster! Finish it with Aurora Beam!"

"I was hoping you'd say that. Pidgeot! Mirror move!" 

Cloyster shot out a large, multicolored beam at Pidgeot, but it quickly dodged and blasted Cloyster with a beam twice as big as the original. The beam blasted Cloyster's weak inner body and it immediately fell unconscious. The girl zapped Cloyster back into it's ball and sadly handed it to me.

"Good bye Cloyster." She said as she began to walk away. I looked at the pokéball in my hand and knew I couldn't keep it. I gave it back to the girl and in exchange, she told me that Pidgeot are strong enough to support a full grown man and a small pokémon on their backs. I thanked her and climbed on Pidgeot's back. He flew into the air and we reached Saffron in a matter of hours. Not wanting to waste anytime, I healed my pokémon at the pokémon center and made a beeline for the Gym. I walked inside and was greeted by a young man wearing a operator's mask. He took me to Sabrina, who was a young woman around eighteen years old. She held a small doll in her hands. For some reason, she made me agree that if I lost, I'd have to play with her. Seeing no harm in that, I agreed and the battle began.

"Go Abra." Sabrina said as she flung a pokéball into the ring psychically. 

"Boy, I've got to learn how to do that." I said as I pulled out my pokédex. I pressed the trade button and transferred a new pokémon. I quickly tossed out a pokéball.

"Go Ditto!" I cried. "Transform into...um, oh! I know! Turn into a Gengar!"

"Ditto! Ditt...gar, Gengar!" Ditto said as he transformed into the ghost pokémon.

"A wise move." Sabrina said. Her eyes began to glow a dark shade of purple and Abra stood and got into a battle stance. "Abra, Psychic attack now."

"Gengar, use your Hypnosis attack!"

Gengar/Ditto began to wave it's hands in a circular motion. Abra began to rock back and forth and then fell asleep.

"Abra. Wake up now." Sabrina said. Her pokémon blinked and tried to stand up, but the constant barrage of sleep waves kept it down.

"Now Gengar, finish it with Dream Eater!" 

Gengar/Ditto turned into a fine mist and flew into Abra's head. Abra's eyes began to twitch. It suddenly let out a shrill yelp. Gengar/Ditto came out of Abra's head and burped loudly. It turned and tapped Abra on the head. Abra promptly fell flat on it's back. Sabrina scowled and a small, circular badge flew from her hand and into my hand.

"Take your badge and leave." She said as she returned her Abra. I pinned the badge on my shirt and quickly left. That Gym gave me the whillies. 

Chapter Six

Now having five badges, I decided to take a look around Saffron. There were dozens of stores and restaurants just in one city block! I dropped by a small Chinese restaurant called "The Happy Magikarp." Once inside, I sat down at a small table with water pokémon drawn all over it. A waitress gave me a menu and as I opened it, a small flyer fell out of it.

"Pokémon League Admittance Exam." I read from the flyer. "Come and try your skill and knowledge to be entered into the pokémon league."

I folded up the flyer and asked the waitress for some fried Magikarp to go. I took my meal and headed out the door towards Route 45 and the Pokémon League Admissions Center. After a few hours of flying, Pidgeot spotted the building and we came in for a landing. I returned him and headed inside to the main desk.

"I'd like to sign up for the Admissions Exam please." I asked the man at the desk.

"Certainly." He replied as he handed me a piece of paper. "Just fill out this form and return it to me when you finish.

I took the form to one of the small desks encircling the room. I accidentally bumped into a kid with a camera, ruining his shot of a Sandshrew.

"Sorry bud." I said as I walked to one of the desks.

"No problem!" he called to me.

I answered all the questions that I could on the paper and returned it to the front desk. The man looked over my paper and pointed at one of the questions.

"Excuse me Mr. Stephen, but why didn't you fill in the section that asked if you lived with your parents or a legal guardian?"

I just kind of stared at my shoes and mumbled an answer.

"Excuse me? I couldn't understand what you said." he replied, putting his hand to his ear.

"I said I don't have parents." I said, sounding bitter. "They were kidnapped by Team Rocket when I was little. I don't have anyone."

"Oh, I'm sorry..." the man said. "Um...do you have any pokémon in storage?"

"Yes." 

"Then I'll need your pokédex as well as your pokéballs. You're not allowed to use your own pokémon during the examination." He said, holding out his hand.

I reluctantly gave him my pokédex and pokèmon and pinned a small badge with the numbers 241 onto my shirt. I headed into the examination room with everyone else and found a seat in front of a small computer. The Exam Master told us what to do and we went to work.

"Hitmonlee is known as the punching demon, true or false?" the computer asked.

"I think it's true!" a boy behind me said loudly.

"Will you please be quiet?" I asked him while shooting him a dirty look. He shrugged and continued on with his exam.

"The only attack Magikarp originally knows is Splash. True or false." the computer beeped.

"Magikarp? I've never had one of those...I think it's false." I thought to myself as I hit the X button.

"Caterpie is the world's smallest pokémon, true or false?" my computer asked.

"You kidding me?" I thought to myself as I hit the X button again. "Digglet is much smaller than Caterpie."

After that section of the exam was over, I went out to the lobby to see how I scored. I had gotten roughly a B minus. 

"That's not so bad." I thought to myself as I saw the kid I bumped into earlier taking pictures of the lowest scores. I left the building and went out to the battling area with everyone else and got in line by grades. I was only a few spaces from the front. I watched everyone battle as the line moved slowly forward. The battles drew spectators from all around the area to come and watch. I finally made it to the front of the line where the Exam Master was waiting.

"Please pick a belt." He said, motioning to the belts that were on the table. All of the black belts had three pokéballs on them. I grabbed the belt nearest to me and buckled up. I stepped out into the battle ring and pulled out my first pokéball.

"First pokémon, here we go!" I cried as I flung the pokéball into the ring. It opened and in a flash of light...a huge pile of sludge appeared?

"Huh?!" I asked, "what's that?"

Just then, the pile of sludge started to move...

"Mmm...mmuu....Muk!" it said as it stood up, revealing it's face and hands.

"Oh! It's a Muk!" I said.

The other trainer there in his pokéball. It had an Abra in it. The Abra just kind of sat there. I guess it was sleeping. 

"Okay, what are Muk's attacks..." I mumbled to myself. "Oh! I know, Muk, pound that Abra!"

"Muk!" it said as it charged at the Abra, fists ready to bash it. Just before Muk reached Abra, Abra teleported away and ended up behind Muk. Muk looked around in confusion.

"Behind you Muk, try pound again!" I said as Muk turned around. Muk charged at Abra again and again, still never landing a hit. I could hear laughter starting to come from the crowd.

"What a dork!" somebody called as I stood there, my blood boiling.

"Why that little...Muk! Use your screech!"

Muk opened it's big, slimy mouth and let out a ear piercing screech, causing people in the crowd to cover their ears, and more importantly, causing Abra to cover it's ears in confusion.

"Now Muk, blast it with your Disable!"

Muk's eyes turned a dark shade of blue and Abra suddenly froze in place.

"Now Muk, pin it down and use your sludge attack!"

Muk used it's Disable to lay Abra flat on the ground. It then slid it's way over to Abra, completely enveloping the little psychic pokémon in it's sludgy body.

"Now, Minimize!" I said.

Muk began to glow, and then shrunk down to half it's size. However, the Abra within it's slimy body did not shrink. The sudden extreme pressure of being crushed instantly knocked Abra out. Muk slid off Abra and started to do a victory chant.

"Mummm Mummm Muk Muk!" It cried while I returned it. Abra was zapped back into it's pokéball and the trainer threw out a new one. This time, he got a Exeggcute. 

"Second pokémon, here we go!" I said as I flung my next pokéball out. As soon as the pokémon appeared, I knew I was doomed.

"Machop!" the little gray pokémon said as it got into battle stance. I knew Machop couldn't win. He was a fighting type. Fighting types don't even stand a chance against psychic pokémon, even if the opponent is just part psychic.

"Well, let's give it a try. Machop, give it your leer!" I said as I pointed at the bunch of eggs.

"Exeggcute, use you Hypnosis!" the other trainer called.

Exeggcute's Hypnosis overpowered Machop's Leer and sent him reeling.

"Now Exeggcute, Barrage!" 

Exeggcute threw each of it's eggs at Machop, all of them connecting. Machop began to stager.

"Machop, try your Seismic Toss!"

Just before another egg could slam into Machop, it was able to grab it and fling it back into it's group, knocking them back several feet.

"Okay Exeggcute, finish it with your Sleep Powder!"

Exeggcute began to vibrate, causing dark spores to shoot from it's body. Machop was hit by the spores and instantly fell asleep. I returned him and tossed in my final pokéball.

"Third pokémon, here we go!" I cried as I hurled the pokéball into the ring.

"Golduck!" it said as it exited the pokéball.

"Golduck? Yeah!" I cried, throwing my hands in the air. "I can definitely win with this!"

The other trainer threw in his pokéball and my smile came crashing to the ground.

"Golduck!" the other pokémon said. Two Golducks!?

"Okay Golduck, give it your Fury Swipes!" I said.

"Golduck, same attack!" the other trainer ordered.

The two Golducks lunged at each other, slashing at each other viciously. Their claws landed every other time. My Golduck finally sent the other flying with a swipe across the face.

"Okay Golduck, now use your Tail Whip!" I cried.

Golduck ran at the now standing Golduck and swung around, ready to smash the other Golduck in the stomach with it's tail. Just as Golduck was about to connect, the other Golduck threw it's hands up and caught my Golduck's tail. It's eyes began to glow and it shot my Golduck back to me with it's confusion attack. Golduck passed out as it hit the ground.

"Golduck! Aw man..." I said dejectedly as I returned the fainted duck.

I waited behind the spectator lines as the test continued on. However, due to a brief stopover by Team Rocket, the test had to be taken over again. Most of the students didn't stay to take it again. I was one of them. I headed out as soon as I heard that the test had to be retaken. As I was about to leave, an elderly man walked up to me.

"Excuse me," He said as he looked at a small clipboard he held in his hands. "is your name Stephen?"

"Yes." I replied.

"Be there tomorrow at noon." he said as he handed me an envelope. I was about to ask him what it was, but when I looked up, he was gone.

"Weird." I said as I opened the envelope. Inside was a small map and a flyer. "Pokémon Tech" was written on the top of the flyer. 

"Pokémon Tech huh?" I said as I pockted the letter. Thinking for a moment, I tossed out a pokéball. "C'mon Pidgeot! We've got some flying to do!"

Tune in for the next chapters.


	4. Default Chapter Title

Chapter Seven

I arrived at the school the next day right before noon. The campus didn't seem as big as it looked on the flyer.

"Wow, this is so impressive." I said sarcastically to Pidgeot.

"Geot." he replied before I returned him. I walked in through the main doors to the front office.

"Uh, my name is Stephen." I said to the woman at the front desk as I showed her my flyer. "Some old guy gave this to me..."  
"Oh yes! Hello Stephen!" She said as she took my flyer and put it in a drawer. "That man you're talking about was our student researcher. He looks for promising students and sends them here. He was interested in you for your high score."

"But I only got like, a B+." 

"Yes, well, that's still high considering only four people got As, and only seven people got Bs."

"Oh." I said as we entered a large room filled with video game machines. "Whoa! A school that has an arcade? Cool!"

"Oh, these aren't video games." the woman said, smiling. "These are battle simulators. Once you're enrolled, you'll be free to use them as often as you like."

"Sure, sure, whatever. I don't like simulators. I prefer to use real pokémon, not computer images. Besides, I thought it costed a ton of money to get into this school."

"Well, that's only for regular entries. If a person is selected by one of our researchers, then they can get in for free."

"Oh. So...when do I start?"

"Well, if you want to get in, you have to defeat the best student for the beginners class."

"Sure, no problem. Who's the kid?"

Just then, a pretty young girl walked out from behind one of the simulators. She held a pokéball in her hands.

"You'll battle me!" She said as a small galaxy appeared behind her. "Some people say I'm gorgeous, some people say I'm a star, but...I'm just Jazelle!"

Rolling my eyes, I walked past her and pushed the large board with a picture of a glaxay behind her away. 

"Okay, Ms. Jazelle, let's go." I said as I pulled out a pokéball. 

We went outside to a large swinmming pool for the battle. We agreed to one pokémon each. Jazelle opened by tossing her pokéball into the water.

"Go...Seadra!" she cried.

"Seadra huh?" I said as I pulled out my pokédex. 

"Seadra, a dragon pokémon. Seadra are weakest against other dragon pokémon." it beeped.

"Other dragons? Okay then, I have just the thing." I pushed the trade button in my pokédex and the ring around my pokéball glowed and went back to normal. I quickly threw it into the pool.

"Go Dratini!" I said as a bright flash appeared from the pool as the ball opened. Suddenly, a long, eel-like pokémon with small blue ball under it's neck shot it's head out of the water and prepared to fight. However, it wasn't Dratini.

"Dragonair?!" Jazelle and I both said, stunned.

"It must've evolved while it was with Prof Oak!" I said, smiling at my new pokémon. "Now I'll definatly win!"

"Yeah right!" Jazelle laughed. "Seadra, start off with Water Gun!"

"Dragonair, use your Leer!" I said.

Dragonair quickly dunked under the surface of the water to avoid the Water Gun and appeared behind Seadra. Seadra turned around only to be frozen by Dragonair's Leer.

"Now Dragonair, give it your Slam!"

Dragonair quickly picked it's long body up out of the water and slammed against Seadra, only to shoot back up in pain. Seadra had somehow managed to turn around while Dragonair was preparing for a slam and Dragonair ended up falling right onto it's spiky fins. 

"Hah! Now Seadra, Hydro Pump!" 

Seadra's cheeks puffed out and it dived under water. Seconds later, Dragonair was lauched out of the pool from a huge geyser of water. 

"Dragonair! No!" I cried. I sadly returned it.

"Well, that was too easy! You should train harder you weakling!" Jazelle laughed.

Boiling with anger, I stormed out of the school and set out Pidgeot. I hopped onto him and we flew off towards the city. I made my way to the pokémon center and went up to a room, callously ignoring Nurse Joy's hello. I stayed in the center all that day, cooling off my temper. After I had calmed down a little, I checked out a map to see which Gym was closest. According to my other badges, I only had two more Gyms to go. Cinnabar Island had a Gym, and it was closest to me. So can you guess where I went?

Riding on Pidgeot, I made it back to Fuchia City where I boarded the Lapras Liner, a crusie ship that would take me to Cinnabar. Luckily, this ocean liner didn't sink. The ship arrived at Cinnabar in a week or so. Once again, I headed straight for the Pokémon Center. I stayed in the Center for a day or so and headed to the Gym the second day I was there. The gym was a huge complex carved into the side of what looked like an extinct volcano. The main hallway of the gym was surrounded by gigantic statues of fire pokémon. I made my way to the back of the gym, where an old man was standing there, waiting for challengers.

"I am Blaine, the master of fire pokémon. Do you wish to challenge me?" he stated.

"I do." I replied.

"Two pokémon each then. Arcanine, Go!" He cried as he threw a pokéball to the floor.

"Go Dragonair!" I ordered as I tossed my pokéball. "Start it with your Thunder Wave!"

Dragonair blasted Charizard into paraylisis before it even had a chance to attack. 

"Now Dragonair, finish it with your Hyper Beam!" 

Dragonair's eyes glew and odd shade of orange and it shot a huge beam of energy form it's mouth, blasting Charizard to the ground. Blaine quickly returned it and threw another ball.

"Now it's serious! Time to meet my strongest pokémon! Magmar, go!" he shouted.

"Let's go Wartortle!" I cried.

"Magmar, take out that weakling with a fire punch!"

"Wartortle! Fight back with Bubble Beam!" 

Magmar lept inot the air and slammed into Wartortle, fists out. Magmar was just about to smash Wartortle's face in when it was blasted off of him by a steady stream of bubbles. It landed several feet away, but was still in the fight.

"Wartortle, get it with a skull bash!"

"Magmar, try the fire punch again!"

Wartortle leapt at the flame pokémon at ramming speed, but was slammed back to the ground from it's viscious punch.

"Now Magmar, take it out with Flame Thrower!"

"Wartortle! Look out!"

Magmar took in a deep breath and began to shoot huge blasts of fire from it's mouth. Wartortle dodged several of them, but was knocked onto it's back by a blast to it's leg. Magmar took closer aim and fired a blast straight at Wartortle.

"Wartortle! No..!" I cried. Wartortle suddenly leaped up as the flame blasted the floor harmlessly. Then, Wartortle began to glow! He was evolving! Wartortle got bigger and bigger, till it was only a few inches shorter than I. It's shell swelled and hardened and two huge cannons popped out of it's back. The glowing faded to reveal Blastoise!

"All right! You evolved!" I cried happily.

"Magmar, while he's distracted, hit it with your Fire Blast!" Blaine commanded. 

Magmar took in another big breath and shot out a huge fire ball aimed dead center at Blastoise.

"Blastoise! Use your Hydro Pump!" I called. Blastoise quickly turned around and blasted a powerful stream of water right through the Fire Blast and into Magmar, blasting it clear through the far wall. Blaine returned it and handed me a badge in the shape of a small flame. 

"Good job young man!" He congratulated. 

"Thank you." I replied. "Are your pokémon all right? I'm sorry if we hurt them."

"They'll be fine." he assured. He then walked out to a back room and I left and headed back to the pokémon center, still savoring the victory.

I got back to the center and retold the whole battle to Nurse Joy. She was happy to hear about my win. Afterwards, I headed up to my room for a good night's rest.

Tune in tomorrow for the final chapters. 


	5. Default Chapter Title

Note: 

Here we go. These are kinda short, but I'll be posting a complete version later. Hope you like it. 

Chapter Eight 

I awoke early the next morning to a bright sun and clear sky. I guess my luck had finally changed for the better. I had a new badge, a new pokémon, and a new gym to beat. I didn't take time to check out the city as I headed straight to Viridian City, via Pidgeot. On my way to Viridian, I passed over my hometown of Pallet. I didn't drop in though. The only people who would've cared that I had arrived would've been Nurse Joy, the Chanseys, and Prof. Oak. I passed it by and headed onto the final gym. Long story short, the final gym leader used ground and rock pokémon, so Blastoise made short work of them. I had finally earned the Earth Badge, the eighth and final badge! I went back to the pokémon center and healed my pokémon. Using Pidgeot, I completely skipped over Victory Road to get to the pokémon league. I arrived in the League office in a matter of minuets after leaving the Center. If I had gone through Victory Road, it would've taken me days to get through. 

"Please sign your name in here." the clerk at the front desk said as he handed me a small clipboard and a pen. I signed my name and looked back through the pages. Gary's name wasn't there! I finally beat him to something! I gave back the clipboard and the man gave me a slip of paper and told me to come back in four hours for my turn. Luckily, there was a small store there. I spent the four hours and a good hundred dollars on things for my pokémon before it was time for me to go in.

"Go right through here. Good luck!" the clerk said as he showed me to a door. I walked through it to find myself on a large dock, surrounded by water. Water and Ice pokémon swam in the water or sat on the dock. A woman in her mid-thirties stood in the middle of the room.

"My name is Stephen and I've come to challenge you to become the Pokémon Master!" I proclaimed.

"Fine then." the woman said. "I am Loreli. Believe me, you'll never make it past me. Use only the six pokémon you have with you right now. Go, Jynx!"

"Go Scyther!" I cried as I threw a pokéball. "Get it with your Slash attack!"

Scyther flew at Jynx, it's blades ready to strike when Jynx grabbed him out of the air with her strong arms and kissed him right on the face. Scyther's eyes rolled into his head and he passed out.

"Aauuw!" I cried. "Scyther, return! Go, Dragonair!"

"Go Slowbro!" 

"Dragonair, use your Dragon Rage!"

"Slowbro, Confusion!"

Dragonair charge up for Dragon Rage when he suddenly began to glow a soft blue. It then turned it's head around and blasted the Dragon Rage at it's own body! It fell unconscious from the pain. I quickly returned it.

"Hah! Two down, four to go." Loreli crowed. "Go, Lapras!

"Your turn Pidgeot!" I shouted.

"Lapras, sing!"

Lapras began to sing a haunting melody and Pidgeot promptly fell asleep. 

"Pidgeot! Wake up!" I cried. Still, Pidgeot remained asleep as I returned it. "Let's go Nidorino!"

"C'mon Dewgong!" Loreli commanded.

"Nidorino, use your Horn Drill!" I stated.

"Dewgong, let's have an Ice Beam!"

Nidorino charged at Dewgong, but it's attack missed and it was frozen in a block of ice by Dewgong. I returned it and it left a large, Nidorino shaped whole in the center of the ice.

"Last one little boy, make it good!" Loreli mocked. "Go Cloyster!"

"Cloyster!? Of all the times not to have Pidgeot!" I wailed. "Okay, my final pokémon. Go, Blastoise!"

"Cloyster, Aurora Beam!"

"Blastoise! Hydro Pump!"

Cloyster fired it's beam at Blastoise. Blastoise fired it's water cannons into the beam, trying to stop it. However, both blasts continued and both pokémon were knocked unconscious with one hit. I was out of pokémon!

"No! I can't lose!" I cried as I returned Blastoise.

"Stop whining." Loreli said coldly. "You can try again about eight months from now."

"Eight months?!?" I wailed. I dragged myself out the door, my head hanging low. 

I lost. I became more and more depressed as the reality of the situation set in. All of my training, all of my work and dedication. I had defeated all eight Gym leaders and almost every trainer who challenged me. Most of my pokémon were in their final forms, so powerful that they sent me into awe. But still, it wasn't enough. My hopes and dreams were cruelly snuffed out in a matter of minuets. My pokémon didn't even stand a chance against Loreli's. Sadly, I made my way through Victory Road on foot, ignoring any wild pokémon or trainers I saw along the way. After a few days, I emerged, still depressed as when I first started through it. I headed back to Viridian City to get my pokémon healed. As they were healing, I decided to go for a walk to clear my head. As if I hadn't been walking enough already. 

I made my way up to a tall hill to think. Staring over the horizon, I saw the sunset, a dazzling array of colors. Orange, red, magenta...dozens of colors blended into a majestic painting across the ever darkening sky. I made my decision then to train harder and try again. Next time, I would win! Next time, I would become the pokémon master!

I trained my pokémon rigorously for the next half year. I exposed my pokémon to their natural weaknesses. I used Blastoise to fight a person's Venusaur, my Pidgeot against an Electabuzz. I trained myself. I made strategy after strategy, plotting and planning endlessly. I worked out with my pokémon. I kept my pokémon out of their balls whenever I could. We trained until we were ready to drop dead from exhaustion, then we trained some more. I never asked more of my pokémon than I would of myself, and I kept pushing myself more and more. The seventh month passed and my now Nidoking could beat even a ghost pokémon. My pokémon and I were at out peak when the eighth month rolled around. 

We were pumped. We were ready. This time, we would win!

I rode Pidgeot past Victory rode again. Thanks to the tough training, it grew to amazing strength and agility. It kept on growing in size as well, it's muscular wings reaching twenty five feet across. I arrived at the Pokémon League and strolled confidently into the main office. I signed in and walked back through those big doors to the Elite Four again. I knew that this was the last time I'd go through them as a trainer. After today, I would be exiting them as a pokémon master!

Once again, Loreli stood in the center of the room. She didn't even remember me. I was almost insulted. With my pokémon at their powerful stages, we blasted her halfway into next week. We plowed through Bruno and Agatha without a sweat. Then..then we reached Lance, the dragon trainer. Adrenaline was shooting through my veins as the battle began. Our pokémon fought fiercely, Blastoise against Dragonair, Pidgeot against Gyrados, Nidoking against Aerodactyl, and finally Dragonite against Dragonite. The battle was long and hard. Loreli, Bruno, and Agatha gazed in awe as the battle raged on. Finally, after the battle was over, the victor stood, his hands raised in triumph. Lance...was the victor.

My head hung in shame, I left the league, defeated and dejected. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. All those months of training, wasted. I blazed through the Elite Four only to be crushed in defeat and shame by the final trainer. I flew over Victory Road and back to Viridian City. I camped out on my hill for days, never moving from there. I finally decided to go back to Pallet Town. Maybe Prof. Oak would have a job for me there. I went back to the Viridian City pokémon center to heal my pokémon. While they were being treated, I decided to head back up to my hill for one last look before I left. I pushed the crosswalk button and started across when it said to. I heard a horrible screech, like someone dropping a Snorlax on a Persian's tail. I looked to my left to see bright lights! Another horrible screech! Then.....!

Chapter Nine 

An old man sits in his favorite old chair, quietly stroking his loyal pet Growlithe's head as he watched the news on his television set.

"Last night, a horrible car accident occurred, causing the tragic death of a young pokémon trainer." The newscaster informed. "The trainer could not be identified. Police couldn't get his identification from his pokédex, which was completely destroyed. Paramedics say that the boy died on impact from being hit by the car, which was traveling at four times the legal speed limit. The driver was profoundly drunk and he is in custody at the moment. His pokémon were left at the pokémon center and will be put up for adoption." 

"On a lighter note, pokémon trainer, Ash Ketchum has become the newest pokémon master. That's all for tonight. God send and drive safely." the newscaster said as the man turned off his set.

"That poor kid." the man said to his Growlithe. "It's a crying shame, it is. A crying shame..."

The End... 


End file.
